Astrophysicist, author and visionary Neil deGrasse Tyson was appointed by President Bush in 2001 to serve on a 12-member commission that studied the Future of the US Aerospace Industry. The final report was published in 2002 and contained recommendations that would promote a thriving future of transportation, space exploration and national security.
He has written nine books, including his two latest books “Death By Black Hole and Other Cosmic Quandaries,” which was a New York Times bestseller, and “The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America’s Favorite Planet,” chronicling his experience at the center of the controversy over Pluto’s planetary status. His book “Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution,” co-written with Donald Goldsmith, is the companion book to the PBS-NOVA four-part mini-series “Origins,” in which Tyson serves as on-camera host. The program premiered in 2004 and beginning in the fall of 2006, he became the on-camera host of PBS-NOVA’s spin-off program “NOVA ScienceNow,” which is an accessible look at the frontier of all the science that shapes the understanding of our place in the universe.
Tyson is the recipient of nine honorary doctorates and the NASA Distinguished Public Service Medal. His contributions to the public appreciation of the cosmos have been recognized by the International Astronomical Union in their official naming of asteroid 13123 Tyson. Tyson was also voted Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive by People Magazine in 2000.
This is UNF's Presidential Lecture. It is co-hosted by the World Affairs Council of Jacksonville's Global Issues Evenings and WJCT.
